The Warren Republican, Thursday, July 21, 1892
Sudden Death of a Stranger.
For the past year or two John Morenau, a French Canadian, has been engaged in buying ship timber, near Warren, and sending it to Detroit. The territory which furnished him the timber embraced several townships in the adjoining counties of Blackford, Grant and Wells, and part of the time he boarded in Dundee, Van Buren and Monroe Townships. While engaged in this business he has had employed a man by the name of Armidace Bourbonais who hauled the timber to the railroad and loaded it on the cars. The past two or three weeks these men were hauling the timber to Warren, and on Monday brought the last load here. On Tuesday, assisted by Harry Pee and Ed. Smith, the men loaded all of the logs on the cars, and worked very hard to get through, not finishing until after 6 o'clock in the evening. Some little time before they completed the work, Bourbanais was hurt by a log falling or turning in such a way as to throw the crowbar, which he was using, against his breast. He complained of numbness and an unusually bad feeling, but remained at his post and directed how the work should be done until the balance of the timber was loaded. He then took the team to Hows' Livery stable and asked one of the boys to take care of it, as he was feeling badly.
He walked on down to Coles & Priddy's drug store and asked for some medicine. He was directed to a physician, but not finding one, he stopped at Kunkel's clothing store and bought a pair of socks. He passed Thomas Black at Heaston's corner, and told Mr. Black that he had got hurt and was feeling very badly. He went on up the street to the residence of Hiram Towns, where he was boarding, and sat down on the back porch with Mr. Towns. He complained to him of pain in his breast and arms, and after bathing his feet went into the front room and lay down on the sofa. Mr. Ann Irwin was in the room at the timw sewing on the machine, and in a few minutes after he lay down, suddenly rolled off the sofa onto the floor. Mr. Towns and son Sherman and the women in the house all ran to him and attempted to help him, but he gasped only once or twice and was dead. His employer, Mr. Morneau, who had left on the 5:35 train the same evening, was telegraphed to, and he answered from Celina, Ohio, to turn the body over to the undertaker and he would be here the next day. Mr. Morneau arrived here at 11 o'clock and directed the body to be buried here, which was done in the Mitchell cemetery this afternoon.
The deceased was about 35 years old, and was a widower, his wife, whom he married at New Haven, Ind., several years ago, having died, leaving one child, a daughter.